The Strangest Riddle
by BMT and SuperMoose
Summary: Nightcrawler's thoughts on Kitty. Very early canon, she's still afraid of him. Now a collection of one-shots. By SuperMoose.
1. Nightcrawler

"The way sadness works is one of the strangest riddles of the world."

-Lemony Snicket

I don't mind how I look, really. I mean, if I wasn't the furry blue demon-boy, I just wouldn't be _me_. Sure, I get all sorts of looks from strangers, but I've insulated myself from those. (Mostly, it still hurts to know that people are _afraid_ of me.) What really hurts is when people I consider my friends, almost my second family, are afraid of me. Oh, she tries to hide her reaction and she's probably telling herself to get used to me, but it's been months and she still glances away and flinches when I get near. (I know it's my looks, she doesn't cringe whenever _Colossus_ enters the room.) I wish I could reach her, but nothing I do or say seems to work.

Take today for example. Wolverine and I were teasing her about trashing the mansion. (It wasn't really her fault; she was fighting a demon. She won too, all by herself!) However, she took it the wrong way and practically ran off in tears. I felt awful. Here I am trying to befriend her, and instead I make her cry! (Logan might have had something to do with it; she was a bit nervous around him too at first. I'm not sure if he noticed or even cared that much.) Later I tried to apologize, but I think I managed to make her even more uncomfortable. She barely listened to what I had to say and left at the first opportunity.

Everyone tells me she just needs more time to get used to me. I wish she didn't _have_ to "get used" to me. (Besides, everyone else can look at me without jerking back.) I **know** I look different! I **know** I look like a monster, and that even the image inducer can't make me normal. I suppose in a way I'm luckier than Kitty. She just woke up one day and found out she was a mutant. I've always known I was different. After all, no one else in the circus was blue. They were my family though, and they accepted and loved me. I think that's why it hurts so much. I see all the mutants at the mansion as my second family, and it pains me to think that a family member is scared to be in the same room as me. I hope she comes to accept me soon. Even a small sign would be nice. It's just, I'm not sure how much longer my jokes can cheer me up…

AN: I might actually make this a collection of drabbles if I get enough inspiration. One from Kitty's point of view is bouncing around in my head.


	2. Sprite

AN: I don't know if I like this one as much. It seems a little OOC. Umm, just pretend she's having a really bad day or something.

"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are."  
-Bertolt Brecht

Have you ever had your life flipped totally upside-down? Well I have, and it's awful! I mean, I woke up one day and I could walk through walls! I've turned into some sort of freaky, creepy ghost person!

It could be worse, I suppose. (In fact now that I think about it, it could be a lot worse.) If the Professor hadn't found me … Except that he did, and that's what matters. The mutants at the manor are, interesting I guess. Storm's real nice and beautiful; she's like another mother. Piotr is really cute. And strong. And the sweetest person on the face of the … Ahem. Anyway, Piotr is nice. Scott and the Professor are a bit distant. Wolverine is kind of scary, but I've mostly gotten used to him. The only person I can't get used to is Nightcrawler. I mean, he looks like a demon! He has fangs and a tail, and his eyes _glow_! I'm just glad he doesn't act like a monster. If he went around growling like Wolverine he'd be _really_ scary. Instead he's always joking around with Wolverine.

I don't know, he's just too different. Every time I see him I flinch. I really hope he doesn't notice, that would be too embarrassing! I try, but … I just can't! He's the kind of mutant whose picture you'd find on a Friends of Humanity poster.

Sometimes when I look at him I feel like the worst person in the world. He looks so sad and lost … But it's not my fault he's a furry demon boy! It's not my fault I'm afraid of him! I didn't ask for this, any of it!

… I just want to be normal. I'd give anything to be normal again …


	3. Mystique

"You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel."

-Anonymous

I **hate **them! They took her away from me! What right do they have to take my daughter from me, turn her into a goody two shoes X-man? Rouge is mine, I can take care of her better than that hack Xavier ever could!

I protected her, made her safe. She is my daughter, my family, and I will not lose her!

… _Just like the others, right? …_

I'll get her back and away from them, even if I have to kill her.

I could do it. In fact, I already have. Arcade's robots were very convincing, for a few seconds I thought she really

… _had died by your hand, the only one of your children who ever loved you, she was dead and you were alone again …_

Stupid. I'm not alone, I have Irene. Besides my other children are useless failures. Graydon is just a human, the less said about that the better, and Nightcrawler

… _is the person you wanted to raise him to be, the son you always wanted. You weren't the one to raise him though, were you? …_

Shut up.

… _That's right; you threw him off a cliff to save your own sorry hide …_

Shut up.

… _from a mob that __**he**__ wasn't there to protect you from …_

Shut up.

… _He lied. He said he loved you, the __**real**__ you. Like the fool you are you actually believed him, believed that he loved you like you loved him …_

Shut. Up.

… _He looks so much like him, doesn't he? Everything but the color and the fact that he had a happy life, something you could __**never**__ have given him, no matter how much you wanted to …_

SHUT UP! You're lying!

… _You can't lie to yourself, no matter how much you want to. There will always be a part of you that knows exactly what you are, what you've __**become**__, and what you could have been …_

I'm perfectly fine with who I am!

… _You're telling this to a voice in your head …_

I am not crazy.

… _Keep telling yourself that …_

Shut up.

AN: This chapter was inspired by a review from webaholic and reading the issue summaries on . See, good things come to those who review.


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